Meaning of the first line of Cicero's De Oratore

1. What does De Oratore mean?
2. What is De Oratore summary?
3. Who are the characters in De Oratore?
4. When was De Oratore written?

What does De Oratore mean?

De Oratore (On the Orator; not to be confused with Orator) is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius (orator), the other great orator of this dialogue, dies.

What is De Oratore summary?

De Oratore (on oratory) is, in turn, divided into three books. The first is about the qualities of the orator the second about judicial oratory, and the third about ceremonial and deliberative oratory. Orator is lengthy essay on the relationship between law, philosophy, and rhetoric.

Who are the characters in De Oratore?

The main characters of the dialogue are Marcus Antonius (not the triumvir) and Lucius Licinius Crassus (not the person who killed Julius Caesar); other friends of them, such as Gaius Iulius Caesar (not the dictator), Sulpicius and Scaevola intervene occasionally.

When was De Oratore written?

Cicero's De Oratore is one of the masterpieces of Latin prose. A literary dialogue in the Greek tradition, it was written in 55 BCE in the midst of political turmoil at Rome, but reports a discussion 'concerning the (ideal) orator' that supposedly took place in 90 BCE, just before an earlier crisis.